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From: Brad.Scott@p0.f256.n120.z1.fidonet.org (Brad Scott)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Matching
Message-ID: <16428@handicap.news>
Date: 25 Jun 91 15:36:51 GMT
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[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

MD> Brad, you answered my question--sort of.  Again, I do know about
MD> matching procedures but from what I learned at Seeing Eye I'm sure
MD> it's the same basically at Leader Dogs.

One of the criteria for selecting a dog for training is its adapability
to a wide range of siutations and circumstances.  Each trainer carries
an average of 8 dogs in his or her "string".  With 4 instructors on
each team, this gives the team 32 dogs to select from for a class of
approximately 24 students.  We train more than we need for a given
class so we have a wide variety to select from when matching.  Most of
the dogs are highly adaptable, therefore suited form most students'
working environments.  Where they differ might be size, energy level,
motivation and ease of control or response to corrections.  Initally,
students are assigned to instructors who have the largest number of
possible dogs that suit that persons needs.  If I had three possible
dogs for a student after the first day of evaluation, then I would
tentatively be assigned that student.  During the next two days, we
conduct "Juno" and continue to evaluate the student.  By the end of
the second day I might have narrowed it down to two possible dogs,
and then down to the one dog best suited.  If after a day or two,
additional information comes to light, I might re-evaluate my
match and pass the student on to another instructor who has a suitable
dog based on this new information.  We can't, for obvious reasons,
choose a match from hundreds or even dozens of possible dogs, and we
don't need to.  The 32 dogs that are ready for a class are varied in
personality and similiar traits, but they all have the ability to do
the work.  Here's an example:  Lets say I have a Judge who wants a dog.
There will be 10 or 12 dogs out of that 32 that are suited for that
type of working and living environment.  We now narrow it down by
looking at other facts.  Preference, the Judge is really looking
forward to a male, black Labrador retriever, ok lets say we have four
male black labs out of the ten or twelve.  So now we narrowed it down
to four possible dogs.  (Preference is important but not the most
important thing to consider, example: a 62 year old gramdmother who
requests a German Shepherd isn't likely to get one if they are all
75 pounds and up and require a seasoned handler to control, etc.)
Ok, back to the 4 possible choices... two of the four, lets say
for the sake of argument are 16 months old and have very high energy
levels, not a good choice for a Judge who will most likely sit at
his bench for 6 to 8 hours at a crack.  These young go-getters
might be too restless for this amount of inactivity.  In addition,
the Judge might be a first time dog handler, no experience.  Those
2 young pups could sure give him a run for his money.  So now we
narrowed it down to 2 possible dogs.  Of the 2, one is 20 months old
and low keyed but has a bit of a mischevious streak in him, the
other, 24 months and more mature is also the right size for a man who
is 55 years old and 6 foot tall.  Ok, we narrowed it down to the dog
out of the 32 available, that is best suited for this Judge. Obviously,
there is a little more to this than what was explained here, a great
deal of information about the student is determined from the "Juno"
routine, speed, gait, confidence, coordination, timing, etc. etc.
Also, we look at medical or emotional considerations, blindness; being
total or low vision, congenital or adventitious - and on and on.  The
matching process is the most important consideration in dog guide work,
(as far as we are concerned), an example of the scope is the fact that
new trainers here at Leader Dogs serve a three apprenticeship under
the direction of a senior trainer.  Learning how to match being an
important - on going - lesson for the new trainer.  We are really
getting into a subject here that I can't do justice to it in a short
message like this, but I think I covered the jist of it.

Smooch a pooch for me...   Brad

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